Why Every Brand is Hilarious Lately

That’s why some of the most powerful companies in the world — GE, Google, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Nestlé, among them — are hiring increasing numbers of stand-up comedians, improv masters and comedy troupes to produce and star in their advertising.

The campaigns, often short-form digital videos, are racking up millions of views and putting even staid-seeming brands into Facebook and Twitter feeds and other social media-fueled conversations.

Comedy aficionados, in the meantime, are finding themselves in demand as creators and spokesmen, with Upright Citizens Brigade, Funny or Die and Jash working with everyone from giant bureaucratic entities and nonprofit organizations (the U.S. government, the American Civil Liberties Union) to financial services companies and carmakers.

Some sketch and sitcom veterans have set up their own advertising shops, while others defected to the ad world full time. Thinkmodo, the marketing firm behind viral shockvertising hits such as Devil Baby and the telekinetic coffee shop prank, counts a Saturday Night Live alum (James Percelay) as one of its founders. O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul’s creative director, Sue Gillan, is a Second City grad who recently appeared on an Advertising Week panel with former SNL cast member Rachel Dratch. Will Arnett and Jason Bateman’s dumbdumb, founded as a TV, movie and branded content producer, has created videos for Orbit, Blackberry, Old Navy and others.

There’s a real business reason to go for the funny bone, said Chris Bruss, vice president, branded entertainment at Funny or Die.

“Comedians do a good job of observing the world, recognizing real truths and reflecting those back to us,” Bruss said. “If it’s a really good piece of comedy, people find that relatable and it has an emotional impact. That can build brand awareness and lead to sales.”

Comedy clips are among the most shared videos online, meaning that brands can have a potential viral hit on their hands if consumers watch, like and pass along the work.

Comedians, like musical artists before them, might have considered it selling out to use their skills for shilling in years past, preferring to do only a major payday Super Bowl spot or international commercials that they hoped few people in the U.S. would ever see. That’s no longer the case, often because brands are willing to give them considerable latitude in the creative concepts of the ads. And even the campaigns themselves have taken a loose, nontraditional direction.

Executives at Anheuser-Busch, for instance, already liked the prank-rap duo Shockwave and Flytalker from Upright Citizens Brigade. They approached the comedy group with a proposal to meld the freestyle rappers with Shock Top beer for a couple of online videos that look more like a chill day at the outdoor beer festival than any formal TV spot.

“The brand wanted to integrate itself into what we were already doing and reach a target demo that we were already speaking to,” said Todd Bieber, creative director at UCB. “It was a best case scenario.”

For comedians diving into advertising, the commitment is short, as Seinfeld has publicly noted, and the payday can be lucrative, relative to the stand-up circuit anyway.

Bieber, whose UCB roster already includes KFC, Doritos, Friskies, Excedrin, Google, Ikea, Denny’s and others, said the work allows his troupe to fund its independent passion projects. Below is a recent Excedrin ad:

He’s careful, at the same time, not to subvert his standards just to get a brand payday.

“The tricky part is maintaining your voice and not sacrificing your own comedic vision,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a very fine line. But we have a distinct style, and we don’t want to compromise that for any dollar. It’s not worth it.”

Industry veterans said they have lots of conversations up front so they understand the company’s message and goals, and both the brand and the comedy creators knows what to expect from the process.

“We know where the guide rails are, and what’s fair game,” Bruss said. “That way the brands know they don’t have to check on us every five minutes because micromanaging can stifle the creative process.”

Even with good communication, there have been times when a company gets cold feet and shelves a campaign. In those cases, the brands might not have been ready for branded content in the first place, much less an envelope-pushing piece of comedy.

“Sometimes they’re just afraid to take that risk,” Bieber said. “We understand that, but it’s a shame if good work doesn’t go anywhere.”

“The funny ads are the ones that get talked about, and if you’ve skipped over it with your DVR, you’ll need to go find it because it’s the big topic of conversation,” said Jessica Sattelberger, whose comedy troupe Online Broadcast Virtual Station created a Grey Poupon parody ad earlier this year that’s snagged 3.8 million views on YouTube. “Funny is compelling. That’s why people who do heavy drama want to be in the next Judd Apatow movie. Comedy’s bleeding into everything.”

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